Tan Twan Eng Enchants at the Launch of The Garden of Evening Mists
Malaysian author, Tan Twan Eng, launched his second novel, The Garden of Evening Mists, at The Book Lounge last week. Tan, who now lives in Cape Town, is the author of the remarkable debut, The Gift of Rain, which was longlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2007.
Tan was joined by Prof Jan Botha from the University of Stellenbosch in a delightful conversation that had the audience chuckling at the wry and understated humour throughout.
Tan spoke adeptly on a range of topics including the challenges of obtaining a decent university education as a school leaver with unexciting mathematics results in a highly competitive society where the pressure was to study for one of the “big five” careers.
Audience members were equally captivated by Tan’s stories of the night he heard that his book had made the Man Booker longlist; of the inclination to write about bobotie and boerewors; of being a lawyer with a creative urge who would write “creative” affidavits; and of his serious, money-making friends who look slightly askance at his writing career.
Tan concluded with a reflection on the “old-fashioned” nature of books in the era of digital information overload: “We all love stories. It’s a basic need. We love to be told what happened. I’m one of those people who also like to tell stories.”
He cited the return of the hard cover commemorative edition that still sells better than the Kindle edition but conceded that his diminished attention span makes it difficult to immerse himself in a lengthy tome. “After two pages, I find myself wanting to check my phone to see if somebody has sent me an email,” he said. “The only defence I can think of against this is to write more interesting books.”
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Liesl Jobson tweeted from the launch using #livebooks:
I’m off to the launch of The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng at The Book Lounge now. bookslive.co.za/VHle via @BooksLIVESA
— Liesl Jobson (@LieslJobson) May 17, 2012
Writing usually doesn’t work at first. Had to cut out a lot of rubbish, conky descriptions. What’s left behind, hopefully works. #livebooks
— Liesl Jobson (@LieslJobson) May 17, 2012
JB asks about characters. Who owned whom? Were characters in charge? Did they have a life of their own? Or the other way round? #livebooks
— Liesl Jobson (@LieslJobson) May 17, 2012
Character fought against me, didn’t want me to get at her memories. Hard to access. At end she disclosed what happened to her. #livebooks
— Liesl Jobson (@LieslJobson) May 17, 2012
TTE: Malayan history not widely known. A few 1st generation writers have unspoken duty to portray history to the rest of world. #livebooks
— Liesl Jobson (@LieslJobson) May 17, 2012
TTE: Malaysian readers say I over explain. A fine balance attempted, not too many facts, so as to make actions understandable. #livebooks
— Liesl Jobson (@LieslJobson) May 17, 2012
TTE asked about refined culture going haywire. Emperor viewed as a deity. How do you say no to a god? Not just Japanese question. #livebooks
— Liesl Jobson (@LieslJobson) May 17, 2012
Thought about book for long time after 1st book. Well was dry. Have to wait for water to fill again before you can draw from well #livebooks
— Liesl Jobson (@LieslJobson) May 17, 2012
Book details
- The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
Book homepage
EAN: 9781905802623
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Apr
